Nellis Aviation Nation 2011 Photos

Starting a thread for my photos. I took a ton of pics, and it will take me a while to process them all, but here's the first batch.

It was a great show, worth the 6-hour-each-way drive and traffic. I have seen the T-Birds many times and have many photos, so I left before they flew to get a jump on traffic and the drive home. It didn't rain, but high clouds most of the day provided good lighting, but a bland background in certain directions.

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Cool shots Ken. I am looking forward to the rest.


Wheels

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Amazing shots, you must have a nice zoom lense.

Thanks Wheels and Panther.

Yes, it's a pretty good lens - a Canon 100-400L, which is a pretty common air show lens. It's pricey, but if you're going to do much air show stuff, it's practically a necessity. I had a 28-300, but it just didn't have enough zoom. Sigma makes a 150-500mm lens, but I've heard it's a little soft at max zoom, and is a little slow to focus.

Here are a few more:

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http://www.techflyer.net/images/nellis11/album/IMG_3383.jpg
That one jumped off the page at me. Really nice shot.


Wheels

Must have been a pretty good show! I thought I'd seen just about everything flying at one time or another, but I don't think I've ever seen an A-1 or T-33 in the air. Very cool!

Used to have the BONE do touch and go's at George AFB, CA when I was stationed there in the late 80s and usually had an F-106 from Edwards flying spotter. BONEs are pretty impressive...and loud.

Yes, it was a good show. I hadn't seen any flare firings before, so that was a nice surprise, and I hope they stick with it. I was a little disappointed that the BONE didn't do more, just just took off, then later made one high level pass, then a while after that landed. I was hoping it and the B-2 would do a fly-by in formation, but that didn't happen.

One of the cool things about Nellis is the aircraft taxi past the crowd after they land (except for the B-1).

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The flares were a surprise for myself as well. I was also disappointed in the Bone flyby.... should have made one fast pass with the wings swept, but no it had to chicken out with an overhead pass around 1500'. I guess we were lucky to see it since it had problems, but it could have been better.

Finally got all the shots I wanted to process done. All of them can be seen here .

Here are a few of the ones I like best:

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The BONE was disappointing, but the base really did put on a good show, and I appreciate all the effort they put in.

If you can, pass along that they should keep the flares

I like the shots of the F-4.


Wheels

I have to say, the desert camo on the F-16 looks nice.

That overcast sky made magic!

Mind bogglingly brilliant photography!

great as always, i just got my hands on the canon 100-400 L, hope to make a few airshows to see it!

Very nice photographs! I love the F-4 with the mountains in the background. The aircraft looks like it's dominating the scene; as it should! I also like the angles in the shot of the B-1 with gear in transition.

Amazing pictures and you got there a very nice camera, thanks for sharing this

Cheers

Last Phantom shot, with slats deployed, condensation forming over the wings, you can FEEL the G forces. Brilliant photo!

Killer shots, I love the first Phantom shot banking. Great batch under some tough conditions. I saw that they used flares, I wish shows would add them, especially over the water!